Fun Fact: Fatu was supposed to feud with some evil family members who would try and corrupt his good-doing ways. The family (Samoan Gangsta Party) actually showed up in the crowd on a few occasions, but the feud never got off the ground and “Making a Difference” Fatu would only last a few months before being repackaged in 1996.

Scott: The opener has the blueblood against the man who makes a difference. Fatu, the former Headshrinker, is now against drugs and graffiti, or something like that. In any case, Hunter finishes him off with the Pedigree, and moves on. The match itself wasn’t bad and it’s evident that HHH is one that’s on Vince’s list that could be a superstar in the future. From the charisma to the long blonde hair he’s got what Vince likes in a superstar. It’s also very funny that The Game’s style has changed drastically over time. He’s quicker, smaller, and not as intimidating as his persona now. Not a bad opener to the show. This show might as well be good now, because it’s right down the crapper in the end. Grade: 2.5

Justin: A decent match to open this show that looks like it was live from my garage. Fatu was always good at selling and he helps HHH look pretty good on offense. HHH is a prime example of being better as a face during his formative years, because he had NO offense, and as we have gone over in the past, a heel dictates the match with his offense. As for the match, this was a solid bout that helped give HHH a few good wins as he starts his long climb to the top. “Making a Difference” Fatu was an odd character, but the rumored storyline where he would be corrupted by his family gang members could have been intriguing if it had gone down. Well, it didn’t, and Fatu wouldn’t last too long before being repackaged again, but he still wouldn’t see any success until about the time HHH gets his biggest push: late 1999, when he returns under a whole new guise. Grade: 2

Fun Fact: Following his temper tantrum here, on the 11/16 Raw, the Kid would be forced to referee a match between Sid and Ramon on Raw. Kid would help Sid escape the Razor’s Edge and would give a fast count to ensure Sid wins the match. After the bout, the Kid officially linked up with Ted DiBiase and the Million Dollar Corporation.

Scott: This is the final moment of 1-2-3 Kid as a face. Razor drops the Edge, and is about to get the win, when the Kid wants to tag in. Inexplicably, Razor does, Kid gets rolled-up, and they lose. He then starts to whine incessantly, which gets the crowd on him. He then jumps the Gunns out of nowhere and steals their titles. Razor comes back in to smooth things over, but it’s evident that Kid is changing his ways. Come the next show he makes a 180 degree turn and is in full heel mode. Grade: 2.5

Justin: A pretty good tag match that is there more for the story than the outcome. The Gunns were fresh off their title win and would go on to pretty much dominate the title picture for the next year. After the match, Kid steals the tag belts, but Ramon grabs them and gives them back to the Gunns to make peace. There really isn’t much else to talk about here, other than the growing tension between the 1-2-3 Kid and Ramon that was getting ready to boil over. Grade: 2.5

Fun Fact: Man, this character took balls to do, as it was really edgy, especially for the time. I don’t think people realize how out there the character was before it became the watered down-Hollywood star version it was from 1996-on. Goldust was blatantly interested in various wrestlers, and would eventually turn his attention to Razor Ramon. The Ramon-Goldust feud was very compelling and fresh, but frightened a lot of people and Vince had to tone it down Also, it seems like Goldust was a necessary character for Dustin to take on, as he probably would have never caught a true break or escaped the shadow of Dusty. Goldust was definitely the precursor to the attitude era, and the original incarnation of the character was quite ahead of its time.

Fun Fact II: Since his last PPV appearance in this promotion, which was teaming with his father at the 1991 Royal Rumble, Dustin Rhodes had a very eventful run in WCW. He won the Tag Team titles with Barry Windham, and won the United States title in 1993. He was fired from the company in early 1995 because he and Blacktop Bully (Barry Darsow a/k/a Smash) bled during their “King of the Road” match at Uncensored (wrestling in the back of a moving flatbed truck). WCW was in the same mold as WWF in that they were trying to avoid blood on camera. The first Goldust vignette was on the July 24 edition of Raw. His first match was against Razor Ramon at an August 29 dark match in Erie, PA. He defeated Bob Holly in a dark match before In Your House #3 but this is his first televised match.

Fun Fact III: Marty Jannetty had just made yet another return to the company, as he had been gone since early 1994. He would stay a singles competitor until January before picking up a new tag team partner.

Scott: This is the official PPV debut of Goldust. His vignettes started airing in July. Yes, Dustin Rhodes, son of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, dons a gold body suit, acts like a blatant homosexual, and fondles opponents. He debuts with a long entrance (almost as long as the Undertaker), with gold flakes falling around the ring. It’s imaginative and quite weird. His makeup was very well done, although in this first match his eyes and ears are black. His eyes being black is one thing, but the ears were very strange. In any case, he wins his first TV match against the now JTTS, Jannetty. Grade: 1.5

Justin: A very slow and plodding match. The whole interest in this match was to see Goldust live in the ring after months of bizarre vignettes. I remember being a little surprised when he took the wig off, as I kind of thought that was his real hair from the promos. It was a good thing he changed his finisher as well, as he had been using the heart punch on the house show circuit. Jannetty was a complete waste of time by this point and I have no idea why Vince even bothered bringing him back, since he couldn’t be trusted to stay clean and be counted on. Although his run in 1995-1996 was solid enough and he does a good job putting guys over, so maybe it made some sense. An interesting and monumental debut here, but the match was a human vacuum cleaner: it sucked and blew at the same time. Grade: 1

4) Mabel (Nelson Frazier) and Yokozuna wrestle to a double countout at 5:12

Fun Fact: Gorilla Monsoon forced these two to fight after they crushed the Undertaker’s face on the 10/9 Raw. In the match, Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, & Yokozuna defeated Diesel, Shawn Michaels, & the Undertaker. After the match, Diesel, Michaels, and Taker suffered a brutal beat down by their opponents, as well as King Mabel and Dean Douglas who joined in. As the brawl continued, the Undertaker sustained a broken eye socket at the hands of King Mabel which took him out of action for two months. You think Yoko would have learned his lesson and stayed the hell away from UT, but who knows. The heat here also stems back to a Raw in September where MOM and Yoko & Owen battled over the tag belts on back to back weeks.

Scott: Just looking at the two names just tells you nothing good could possibly come of this. After being here for almost 3 years it was probably time for a change in Yoko. In fact when he was coming down the aisle there was some faint face pops for the former WWF Champion. As for actual workrate, well the real workrate was probably the pre-match meals these two had. What we do get is a lot of stalling, lumbering and heavy breathing. After 3 minutes there was approximately 25 seconds of action as this was just a fill of 5 minutes before the drama of the next segment/match. After the match you think that these two would continue to go at it and Yoko would finally turn to the light side. Alas that wouldn’t happen and Yoko would stay a heel for a little while longer. Thankfully Mabel’s slide down the card continues. Grade: .5

Justin: Just terrible. This match was a clusterfuck. While the idea of seeing these two monsters battle it out may have looked OK on paper, the execution is just brutal. Making things worse, after the match, the two men hug and make up. My Lord. Where is my nasty vicious Yokozuna of 1993? The best part of this match is the end, as well as the optimism of the impending end of Mabel’s run. Grade: .5

*** Shawn Michaels comes out to forfeit his I-C Title to Dean Douglas in a teary-eyed presentation, complete with tribute video. Monsoon stated that Douglas would be granted the I-C Title, but since the fans wanted a title match, they would get one, and he inserted Ramon in Michaels’ place. Shawn had been beaten down by a group of Marines in Syracuse, when he started talking shit to them. There are many versions of the story floating around, as the number of Marines ranges from 2 to double digits. Either way, the end result was the same: Michaels came out on the short end of the purse money. Many people claim that if Shawn was healthy enough to walk to the ring and forfeit his title, he was healthy enough to job it out. This was not the first time Shawn gave up a title, and it would not be the last. ***

Fun Fact: This win added fuel to the Kid-Ramon fire. Kid was pissed that Ramon didn’t care about losing the tag title match because he won the I-C Title later in the night. Kid claimed Ramon was selfish and didn’t care about him.

Scott: About half an hour after losing the tag title match, Razor Ramon becomes the first 4-time Intercontinental Champion. However, something happened I must discuss before we go on. Shawn Michaels comes out, a few weeks after getting severely bitch-slapped all over Syracuse, and relinquishes the IC title to Dean Douglas. Once again, Shawn Michaels loses a title, and isn’t pinned. It’s brilliant how he was able to pull that off. Using storylines, real life, whatever it took, he rarely lost titles by pinfall. So, Dean Douglas sets a record by being the Intercontinental Champion the shortest amount of time. He holds the belt for roughly 12 minutes. Then wrestles Razor Ramon, and loses. That’s pretty much it for Dean Douglas’ WWF career. Shane Douglas has a much more lucrative career in ECW, winning its world title among other things. Razor Ramon once again was on top of the world, but as we would see by the turn of the year, his clock was ticking as well. Grade: 1.5

Justin: A pretty bad match that features Ramon beating on Douglas for 11minutes and making Douglas look like complete shit before pinning him with a back suplex. What a disaster this whole situation became, but that is what happened when you messed with Clique Politics, Shane. Thankfully the Clique’s reign of terror was coming to end and everyone would be better for it. This is Ramon’s final title run and it would last just in to the New Year. Douglas would stick around until the end of 1995 before returning to Philly and never stepping foot in a WWF ring again. He could have had a much better run if he didn’t have such heat with Michaels and Ramon during a time when they wielded a lot of backstage power. This match is pretty bad, and much worse than their outing just one month ago. Grade: 1.5

*** Bret Hart chases off Jerry Lawler and takes over on commentary for the final match, as he had already been named #1 Contender for Survivor Series. ***
6) British Bulldog (David Smith) defeats Diesel (Kevin Nash) by disqualification at 18:13; Diesel retains WWF World Title

Fun Fact: Bulldog received this title match as a result of attacking and turning his back on Diesel way back in August, when he solidified his heel turn. It turned out to be a bad move, as it effectively slammed the casket door shut on Diesel’s title reign (of terror).

Scott: The last straw. No more excuses. This is it for Big Daddy Cruel. After once again putting on an absolute pile of crap for a main event, even Vince McMahon can’t take anymore. Allegedly, after this match went off the air Vince dropped his headset, took Diesel to the broadcast table, and publicly berated him, telling him he’s tanked another main event for the last time. From In Your House #1 all the way to now, we have had to endure a run of 6 straight sub-par main events. Money is being lost, fans are walking away, and the WWF is in serious trouble. After turning the other cheek for most of the year, Vince finally realizes he needs to take the strap off Diesel, and the following month, he does. This is another typical Diesel match: slow, boring, and listless. The crowd tries to sound interested, and in fact they do a “DIESEL” chant when Bulldog tries to put him in a Boston Crab, but it doesn’t matter. The match is just awful. Bret runs in to jump Bulldog, costing Diesel the match and setting up our Survivor Series title match. Bulldog was a worthy opponent and two months later put on a fantastic main event with Bret Hart. Here, he can’t save it. Grade: 1.5

Justin: A really boring match that goes nowhere and has a horrible ending. This match just totally sums up Diesel entire Title run in 1995: boring, poorly booked and just downright pathetic. Bret gets involved to set up Survivor Series, the show that would start to right the Titanic. Vince was so mad that he let out all his frustrations in front of the whole world at ringside. Man, what a fucking disaster this whole reign turned into. Sadly, Bulldog had actually become a really good heel and could put on a great match when he had the right opponent, but the stars just weren’t aligned on this night. Grade: 1.5

FINAL ANALYSIS

Scott: From the viewpoint of matches, this show could also be an F. Except for Razor/Douglas, not a single one of these matches is good from any perspective. However, storylines were advanced with the matches. Shawn Michaels relinquishes the IC Title, Diesel’s once-again horrendous performance, and the debut of Goldust. These developments raise the grade for this show, but not by much. Thankfully, the run of very poor PPVs end, and we turn a corner with our next outing. Final Grade: D

Justin: A very, very bad show. From the useless undercard to Michaels’ pussyfoot “injuries” and forfeiting the title to the Battle of the Fat Boys to the terrible Main Event this was just an all-around stinker. Goldust’s debut is big time stuff, but the match itself blew. There really isn’t much here, and it pretty much brings an end to one of the worst 12-month stretches in WWF history. Diesel was champion for 11 of those months, so he pretty much has to shoulder the blame for the mess, but there others to blame as well, and we will chronicle them at the end of the year. As far as this show goes, there isn’t much to see at all. Final Grade: D-

MVP: Vince McMahon (For waking up from his year long nightmare at the end of the show)
Runner Up: British Bulldog (For doing everything he could)
Non MVP: Diesel (Again)
Runner Up: Shawn Michaels

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